Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Once in a Blue Moon
by KaigusBluemoon
Summary: My first real story, and the first one I've put on this website. It's a PMD-esque story that follows a boy from our world on his journey in the pokemon world... as a shinx. He makes friends, enemies and rivals, and joins the Froslass Guild which is far to the north of Treasure Town. Please review, as I'll take all the criticism I can get. NOTE: I plan to redo the first chapter soon
1. Chapter 1

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Once in a Blue Moon Chapter 1:

It was a cold, dark night in the hills of southern Indiana. In one house, there was a single window lit up, overlooking the river far below it. Past this window, sitting on his bed was a seventeen year-old boy, playing video games. He had dishwater blonde hair which reached his collar in the back, and barely covered his eyebrows in the front. Contrasting it were his cool light grey eyes. He called them grey, though they rarely appeared that way. Depending on the lighting around him, they could appear to be blue or even green. He was tall, skinny and pale, just about what you would expect from a generic high school nerd, minus the glasses and with a bit less acne.

"Man... I can't believe the weekend's almost over..."

Suddenly, he heard a commotion from downstairs. Was that...? Yep, his brother and sister were yelling at each other again. They were as strong as any family when it got right down to it, but those two were so hot-headed they'd go after each other at any chance they got.

The light-haired boy waited until things seemed to have calmed down before walking downstairs to watch some TV. However, when he entered the family room, he could feel the tension in the air, almost as though a bomb had just gone off in the living room. His siblings were sitting at opposite ends of the couch, his mother was in a chair sniffling–clearly having been crying recently–and his father was still at work.

Unable to stand much more of this, the boy stood up, put on his coat and announced, "I'm going for a walk!"

"Michael! It's fifteen degrees with a foot of sn–"

*SLAM*

His mother didn't get a chance to finish her warning before the door banged shut and he was gone into the night.

This was Michael Gordon, and he did not yet understand the importance of the decision he just made.

* * *

Michael walked, and he walked. He did not know where he was walking, but it didn't matter. He just needed to get away.

Soon the streets and houses of his neighborhood gave way to the trees and streams of the woodlands.

"...Maybe I should head back... They might be getting worried.."

He stopped and looked around. "But wait... Where is back?"

This area was not familiar to him in the slightest. He had been to the woods many times, but never at this time of night. He came here often during the day, just too relax and think. Yet in the darkness, everything was foreign to him.

The moonlight on the snow gave the whole area a sort of ethereal strangeness and beauty. He frowned, knowing that he had to get back as quickly as possible, lest he begin to freeze; he could already feel the wind biting through his coat.

He started walking in the direction that he thought would take him back home. He hiked in silence, with nothing but the sound of the snow crunching beneath his boots to comfort him.

He continued like this for about an hour before he really started to worry. Was this the right way back? Was he just getting himself into deeper shit? Should he stay put and wait for rescue?

He forced these questions to the back of his mind and continued walking, starting to hum one of his favorite songs in order to distract himself. The muffled sound of his voice echoed through trees in a manner that was almost haunting, but he continued. What else could he do?

His trance was only broken by the sound of an owl hooting in the trees, and he began to realize how exhausted he was, staring at the ground and thinking how nice it would be to just lay down and sleep.

He shook his head.

"No... Sleeping here means I might not wake up... I have to keep going..."

And so he continued for another hour, his humming now barely recognizable as he stumbled along in the forest, shivering violently. He thought he was hearing voices.

_Look at how soft that snow is... Wouldn't it be great to lie down for a bit? _

"No... I'll freeze to death. I can't..."

_You don't have to be there for long... Just relax... recover your strength... _

"...No! If I so much as sit down... I won't get up.."

_That means you're weak. Are you weak, Michael? _

"...Shut up..."

The voices seemed to listen to him, oddly enough. All was silent as he continued to trek through the darkness, with only the moonlight reflecting off the snow to guide him.

He looked up at the moon. It was full, which would make it the second full moon of the month. What was that called again...? Oh, right. A blue moon. He had always loved to look at the moon at night, and even at a time like this... it calmed him.

As he walked, his eyes grew heavier and heavier, until he was essentially stumbling through the woods due to exhaustion.

Finally, he stopped. He stared at the ground briefly, wobbling in place, before falling face-first into a pile of snow.

Everything went black.

* * *

_"...No, this simply will not do. The legends speak of this human. If he dies today, the world will lose its only hope." _

_"So what do you suggest we do..? He is surely dead if he remains like this much longer." _

_"The only thing we can do." _

_"Are you sure he is ready? He is still but a child. This is a great task to heap upon his minuscule shoulders." _

_"No, I am not sure. But we no longer have a choice in the matter. It must be done. We must trust that he can handle it as he is." _

_"Very well, I shall be off at once." _

_"Make haste. I am not sure how long he will last." _

_"Yes, my lord."_

* * *

"Hey... HEY! Buddy, are you ok?"

"..."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Rays of soft sunlight streamed through an opening in the ground, hidden beneath a large tree. It scattered across the brown dirt floor, and across that single splotch of reddish brown fur, rising and falling... and also shivering. The effect of the light on this fur gave it the appearance of fire, each ray creating a tongue of flame. However, this did nothing to alleviate the poor creature's chills as it lay there, asleep.

After some time, the mound of fur shifted and gave a small, nearly inaudible yawn. The shivering slowed, but did not stop as it rose to four feet, giving a stretch, and walked to the center of the tiny sanctuary. There, it looked at a small pile of dry wood for just moments before setting it aflame with only a brief exhalation, like a sigh. The odd flame-creature sat itself down next to the newly-lit fire and pulled all its legs close. It remained like this for several minutes until finally, the shivering ceased.

_Same routine as always..._ thought the young vulpix as she picked herself up from the dirt. She looked to one corner of her humble little home, and saw that the pile of food was running alarmingly low. _Well... at least I'll have something to do today._ She picked up her tattered leather bag, empty as usual, and slung it around her neck. The small red fox then padded over to the door to her tiny home and poked her head out. It wasn't snowing at the moment, so that was good. In fact, the sky was pretty much clear. _This might not be so bad after all._ These were the words she thought to herself as she crossed the threshold of her home and exited into the morning glow.

* * *

As she wandered the snowbound forest, she checked through each of the usual places she might find berries. All picked over...of course. Well there was a lot of food in the forest, so surely no one could take it all. She just might have to settle for something a little less sweet, like mushrooms or various types of roots. She could always go hunting, but the idea had never really appealed to her. Well, that and she was never quite good at it to be perfectly honest. And so she walked, picking up the occasional frozen berry that someone had dropped. It was like this every winter, and she had survived until now. So, she wasn't particularly worried. It just got... old. She lived alone, and her entire livelihood revolved around making sure she had enough food to survive another day. It was a lonely existence, to the point that at times she talked to herself so that she would be reminded what her voice actually sounded like. Of course, she wasn't sure what she would do if she actually met another pokemon. She'd probably just scare them off. That was her problem. She was exhausted with being alone, but abysmal at conversing with others.

She was shaken out of her thoughts be the sounds of yelling from off through the trees. Curious, she hurried toward the clamor, hiding in the undergrowth when she grew near. She gasped at the scene before her. There was a very upset looking houndoom, standing tensely and growling. Across from the heated canine floated a ledian, wielding what looked like some sort of lance. Beside her was an umbreon, not using a weapon but holding a much more relaxed stance than his opponent. Behind those two was an injured pichu. It was the houndoom which spoke first, a gruff male voice.

"Damn cowards! Why don't you take me on one at a time, like honorable pokemon?!"

The ledian smirked and replied, clearly female. "Pah! Talk of honor coming from someone like you.. Do not make me laugh! Lunic, you ready to take this guy?"

The umbreon, apparently named Lunic, replied in a smooth monotone. "Of course, I'm always up for a fun battle."

Growling louder, the houndoom gave an angry "Screw you!" and opened his mouth toward the ground. A toxic smoke poured out from his maw, filling the area with its stench and obscuring him from view. When it cleared, he was gone.

"Damn!" Swore the ledian, "He got away!"

The umbreon simply shrugged and replied. "No matter, we'll get him next time. What's more important now is getting this youngster back to the guild." he gestured to the pichu, "That criminal will show up again eventually."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Let's go. Come on, little fella', we're gonna take you somewhere safe."

The pichu responded with only a nod, still too scared for words, and followed his protectors out of the forest.

The vulpix in the bushes watched all of this in complete awe. She had heard about exploration teams and the great things they did, but this was the first time she had ever seen one in action. It was incredible! Of course, there hadn't been any actual fighting. But just the way those two had handled the situation.. wow...

Unfortunately, in all her wonder the she-fox forgot that there was still a dangerous criminal close-by, and much closer than she could have expected. She gave a frightened yelp as sharp teeth closed around the scruff of her neck and tossed her harshly out of the undergrowth. She turned to see the same houndoom from before walking towards her with a wicked grin on his face.

"Ooooh, I may have lost one meal today.. but it seems another has walked right to me!"

Mortified, the vulpix tried to scramble backwards. "P-p-p-please no, mister...!"

He only gave a powerful laugh before pouncing on her, pinning her to the snow-covered ground. "A nice, young one too! I'm gonna have some fun before I eat you~"

She knew what that meant, and she knew she had to escape quickly. "Leave me alone!" She shouted before firing a burst of flame straight at his face. Much to her surprise and to his amusement, however, it simply seemed to dissipate and absorb into his body. He had the flash fire ability...

"You really aren't the brightest are you? Well then..." He pressed down hard with a claw, causing warm blood to drip down her leg.

Thinking frantically, she realized she still had one chance, and only one chance. As soon as his eyes met hers for the briefest of seconds, she released a short pulse of light. Unlike the flames from before, this had the desired effect, causing the houndoom to stagger off of her and shake his head vigorously.

She wasn't sure quite how long the effect would last, so she had to make her move now. Ignoring the pain in her leg, she scrambled to her feet and took off back the way she had came. She didn't look back, nor did she pay attention to where she was going. After running for what felt like an hour, she finally came to a stop and looked around. No houndoom, that was a relief. But unfortunately, she was a long way from home. She knew how to get there, but she still hadn't found any food to bring back. Oh well, she could go another day. At least she was safe. Now she would rest her legs for a bit. At least the snow had done a good job of numbing the pain in her injured leg.

Feeling well enough to get going again, she stood and looked around the whited-out forest around her. All was silent. Strange.. Wait... what was that weird mound in the snow..? As she approached it, something seemed... off, though she couldn't quite place what it was.

Finally she reached it and began to dig through the frozen powder. It wasn't long before she felt something soft... Fur! Much more desperate now, she brushed the rest of the icy snow away, revealing a pokemon lying unconscious beneath it. It was a shinx, to be precise. The poor electric type had probably gotten lost or something. She flipped him over onto his back and put a pointed ear to his chest, breathing out a relieved sigh as she heard a gentle tha-thump! tha-thump! He was breathing... Now the question was what to do with him. She couldn't just leave him... could she? No, that would be cruel.

After finally making her decision, the red vulpine hoisted the unconscious pokemon onto her back and began to walk.

* * *

It would be dark before she finally reached her den, having been slowed down by the weight on her back. She dropped the boy to the ground and quickly started up a fire again. Once it was glowing nicely, she dragged the shinx closer to it, watching the frost melt slowly from his fur. His breathing appeared to deepen after about half an hour, so that was a promising sign at the very least. Maybe she ought to see if he was responsive now...

Deciding that this would be the best course of action, she gently nudged his shoulder. "Hey..." No response. She took a breath and spoke louder. "HEY! Buddy, are you okay?"

This seemed to work better. The small creature finally began to stir and open his eyes slowly. "..."

A/N: Welp. Yeah, it's been a while. Hopefully I'll start actually updating this regularly. Also, I just realized that it didn't keep italics and the like when I uploaded it, so I went back and fixed those.


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